Spanish Citizenship

My mother is from Spain, but I grew up in New York City my whole life. For a long time I have been looking into dual natioanlity status and with the recent end to manditory military service in Spain, it seems I might be eligable. Problem is I cannot find any worth while info on this subject. Any leads from anyone would be very helpful. PS: the Spanish Consulate is worthless unless you know the answers already. Thanks, Robert

I think it depends on whether your mother still has her citizenship. I am not an expert but a friend of mine has a father from Spain who still is a Spanish citizen. She and her sister therefore have both Spanish and American citizenship. I am not positive, though, if that is the only rule.

Thanks. But I think it was easier for your friends because women did not need to serve in the Spanish military. Until last year, it was mandatory for men. So may have been eligible when I was younger, but if I served in a foreign (to the United States) military, I would have lost US national status. So the real question is, now that I am 28 and there is no longer any mandatory military service, can one become a dual national with Spain. Hmmm. I see red tape ahead.

You don't have to do the militar service you can do the social service instead, have you think about that. I think that in some cases of double nacionality you can avoid the Spanish militar service, you should review in which cases you avoid the Spanish militar service

Robert, my children were born in Spain and have been dual nationals all along. They´re still younger than 18, but I have been told all along that they can retain their dual nationalities all their lives, unless they request to drop one. I´m in Spain now and the other day at a party this subject came up, and I was told that the US has made it easier than ever to have two nationalities. Have you tried contacting the US consulate in Madrid? They may be able to help you.

With a parent who is/was Spanish, one year of legal residence and it's yours for the asking.

Thanks everyone. Since I first looked into this, I have for out what Asterault said. Here is what one such as myself needs- to live in Spain for a year. But there are things that I need in order to do that, mainly a work visa. To get that I need to have the following:

1) Report from local police that I am sane/ not a trouble maker.

2) Doctor report saying that I do not take drugs/have no contageous diseases, etc. In other words, official "good" bill of health.

3) Passport with lots of extra photos, etc.

4) A job opening lined up that has been officially posted with the Ministery of Labour- the company would also have to defend their decision to hire me and not a Spaniard.


Then, since I am older than 20, after a year, I would be eligable for citizenship. I would like to ask Asterault if he knows how difficult it is at that point. But we also come into other contentious issues: namely that I would have to denounce the United States at my swearing in as a Spanish citizen, in front of a judge. I wonder if the US would honor what I said in another court and consider me as a traitior, etc.

Any further info anyone has would be great. Thanks,

Robert

Robert,

Better be careful on that "sane" thing... Your last post went in three times...

Wolf (Whose record is two times so far. )

Yeah I know- kept trying to go back a page.

Have fun down at NY Police getting that letter! I remember that. For the exact requirements stop by the consulate which is on 58th and Lex I believe.

One should check about dual nationality. Countries usually have an agreement or treaty on such things. However, you won't have to renounce US citizenship, of that I'm pretty sure.

The ease of finding work depends on the field you're in, as in the US. Once that is underway the process of residency is not difficult, however it is slow. But it works. On this point you would need a lawyer and should this ever come to pass let me know as I have a good one.

Something which hasn't been covered in this thread: Citizenship through marriage.

I've looked into this myself and even been sent information in the mail from the US Embassy in Madrid about 5 years ago (I should request newer, updated information if any exists).

Has anyone here gained citizenship from Spain through marriage? How long does it take? It seems to take several months to complete the paperwork and get subsequent permission JUST for marriage so I imagine one stays in Spain legally until his/her approval for citizenship is finalized.

Ummm.. I'm only asking for those of us who were.. umm.. wondering.. :o

An interesting thread going on here. I can't say I know much about the dual citizenship issue, but there's a small section in David Hampshire's Living and Working in Spain which covers citizenship of children born of Spanish parent(s), foreigners, and nationals of former colonies of Spain, etc.-- actually, it's pretty handy for a lot of issues that seem to come up on this website.

Madrid Man-- your question about citizenship through marriage is an interesting one for me, as I married a Spaniard, living in Spain, and am also wondering about that very issue. In the same aformentioned book, apparently most foreigners (not related to Spaniards) need to have had residency for 10 years before being eligible for Spanish citizenship. But, a person married to a Spanish citizen usually only needs to have had residency in Spain for 1 year to be eligible. I don't know how accurate this information is (the edition I have was printed in 1998-- there is probably a newer, revised version out, and surely the laws change all the time).

As for the paperwork issue of actually getting married, the advice I received from the US Embassy in Madrid was "If I were you, I'd get married in the US because it's much easier and faster than in Spain." So, that is exactly what we did. Got married in the US, registered the marriage with the Spanish Consulate in order to have it recognized in Spain and to get the "Libro de Familia" (this took less than 10 working days--and we were able to do it by mail) and as soon as that was done, we applied for my visa to enter Spain and legally be in Spain until the residency and work permit came through under "Reagrupacion familiar." Getting the visa took 10 minutes (but had to be done in person at the Spanish Consulate). All the paperwork for my residency and work permits was turned in to the Oficina de Extranjeros back in Spain where I got my residency and work permit. No sweat. Hassle free.

I will also mention that a friend of mine did it the opposite way-- she got married to a Spaniard here in Spain. They had to apply for a date to get married (which was set for, I think, 2 months after they applied--they didn't have a choice). During that time period, they gave her a kind of "grace period" where they gave her a social security number right away and allowed her to work. However, the glitch was that after they got married, they approved her work permit and she had a social security number already, BUT they did not give her residency. Go figure. They ended up with a huge mess to sort out (which they finally did in the end, but it was a gigantic headache).

Anyway, that's my two cents for you. I'll be interested to see if anyone out there has additional info about citizenship through marriage.

That is correct - one year of legal residence if you are married to a Spaniard.

However, the issue is the dual nationality... I will find out about that as that is the more tricky problem.

Asterault,

Out of curiosity (wolves are curious beasts.), since EEUU allows people to work within their family of nations, would it be easier for someone to gain citizenship in another country, then work in Spain?

As an example... A Canadian would ask for citizenship in the UK. Then, without any ado, could migrate into Spain to work?

Just wondering if this was a viable approach to anyone who has a different pedigree.

Wolf

Theoretically it may very well work. Any EC citizen can work in any country of the EC.

However, there might be small problems when trying to do it for good, since, i.e., in the old times I have seen different kind of excuses or documentation required in the UK for spanish and italians to migrate (even both belonging to the EC).

But, my friends were decided to work it out, and it took them only some aditional effort.

Ignacio,

Which goes to prove that, "Where there's a hook, there's a crook!"

Oops! Wrong saying, should have said, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

Wolf (Who swears he can pass the polygraph exam, and a sanity test, if both are given early in the morning... )